McDonald’s plans to sell Krispy Kreme donuts at all 13,500-plus locations across the US by the end of 2026.
The rollout will start in the second half of this year, and it will take about 2.5 years to add Krispy Kreme donuts to McDonald’s nationwide menu as the bakery company ramps up its distribution to satisfy the partnership, the fast-food giant announced Tuesday.
The move, earlier reported on by CNBC, marks an exclusive partnership between McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme in the US throughout the duration of the agreement.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long Krispy Kreme donuts will be in McDonald’s outposts after the rollout is complete come 2026, at which point McDonald’s customers will be able to order the original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and chocolate iced cream-filled doughnuts, either individually or in packs of six, a Krispy Kreme spokesperson confirmed to The Post.
The donuts will be available for purchase all day.
To celebrate the partnership, Krispy Kreme said that it will give a free original glazed donut to all guests who visit its US-based bakeries between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. today, Tuesday, March 26.
To stock thousands of locations of the Golden Arches, Krispy Kreme will utilize a “hub and spoke” model, as it does to deliver its popular fried and glazed treats to the 6,800 third-party stores its donuts are sold in as of Dec. 31.
Production hubs — which are either Krispy Kreme stores or donut factories — send off freshly made donuts every day to retail locations such as grocery stores and gas stations, according to CNBC.
“We think we can service about 6,000 restaurants with our existing infrastructure, mostly doughnut shops, which have excess capacity,” Krispy Kreme CEO Josh Charlesworth told CNBC.
However, McDonald’s has an additional 7,500 restaurants — and has revealed plans to open 900 new locations across the US by 2027.
Though Krispy Kreme is upping its production capacity primarily for the McDonald’s partnership, Charlesworth noted that the deal is a major opportunity for the donut shop — which operates 300-plus of its own locations — to expand its reach, CNBC reported.
Krispy Kreme will also be using the opportunity to land in grocery and convenience stores that prefer national suppliers.
“That means that the overall efficiency and productivity of our distribution network will significantly improve over time, not just because of all those local deliveries,” Charlesworth added, per CNBC.
Efficiency will also come in the form of less waste, as Krispy Kreme’s locations often make more treats than they can sell in a given day.
With extra demand from McDonald’s and other new sellers, Krispy Kreme will be able to churn out more donuts without breaking the bank in additional production costs.
“Therefore, it makes our system more profitable to grow the deliver fresh daily channel, and McDonald’s is an accelerator of that,” Charlesworth told CNBC.
A McDonald’s spokesperson also told The Post that “this partnership will unlock incremental growth opportunities for McDonald’s restaurants across the country – particularly in the breakfast daypart (because who doesn’t love a fresh doughnut with their McCafé in the morning?) but also throughout the day.”
Krispy Kreme’s relationship with McDonald’s began in late 2022 when the fast-food chain sold the brand’s beloved donuts at nine locations in Kentucky.
The successful pilot saw McDonald’s adding Krispy Kreme donuts to an additional 146 restaurants across the state, according to McDonald’s website, as well as more than a dozen locations in Indiana.
Demand from McDonald’s customers during the tests exceeded both chains’ expectations, Charlesworth said, according to CNBC.
Jessica Roberts is a seasoned business writer who deciphers the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and entrepreneurship, she provides readers with valuable insights into market trends, startup innovations, and economic developments.
